Vehicle wheel



Jan. 13, 1953 H. J. HORN 2,625,439

VEHICLE WHEEL Filed May 18, 1948 INVENTOR. HARRY J. HORN AITORNEYL Patented Jan. 13, 1953 WVEH IQLE WHEEL shard mlhnfina c ass nq to Motor oration, Lansing, Mich, at earlier an Assumes MaydS, megsm]-No.--a1mt 7 iihis invention genesis avenue Iwhefland articularly to a vyehi'cle'wheel tcchstmcted tohave attached thereto allaubinap, .wheel t-riin ring, wheel coverbrthe rice I It is an object bfthi li ilfentionto-prbducea vehicle Wheel with ereiahve y inexpensive, simple, but highly 'e'iiicientineans iornetachamy securing a whee'l' cover thereto. I

*As' used Trier 1 in, the term. .tover. piaie'.wi1i be used broadly to include hiihreap fihelstfimring or a wheelcover platelwhichedv ersthe iiillbodi' portion of the wheel.

;.More particularly the; invention is concerned with the shearing and :iorming of three 161" .niOre .eircumierentially.spacedlbossesin the wheel body which f arm retaining ir'ianslfor' the 't'vii'elalizbver plate.

- In the drawings:

Fig. 1' is a side-elevation shdwingllnywheel with the cover plate attached thereto. 7

Fig. 2 isa Idi-arnetricalsectien. thmugh the wheel along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a iragmentary side elevation of' a portion of the wheel carrying the sheared boss.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged-fragmentary radial sectionsimilar to Fig. 2 butshowing only one of the 'sh'eared bosses and the fadjo 'lihgrp 'irtion Gf'the wheelbody. r I H Fig. 5 is a-iragmentaryviwhi the wheel body carrying the sheared bossand-iooking in .a; radial direction toward the center Qtthe wheel a's-iindicate by e nefirf-ipi Eis 4 v(Re r m re ...P3 .PR I t= T miwm I h v h wn a met irehiq e-whe comprising rim I, stampedm'etaldisc body .21 having circumferentially spaced spoke sect-ions a secured to the rim .by rivets 4. The bodyuZ-Lis provided witha "central aperture .5 .iof-ttheihub ":and an iiiitegral bolting-on flange 6.

The wheel body is provided with a plurality of equi-circumferentially spaced bosses I. For purposes of description I have shown three of these bosses but more than three can be provided, if desired. Each boss is formed by making a shear 8 in the wheel body and pressing the metal adjacent to, and on the radially inner side of, the shear outwardly in the form of a partial bubble. Shear 8 has the form of a V with the apex 9 of the V positioned on a radius and the two sides [0 making less than a right angle with the radial line passing through the apex of the V. Each boss 1 is provided with an apex H and two diverging sides 12 which likewise form a V.

By referring to Figs. 1, 3 and 4 it will be noted tha ap ll of the boss I is positioned further 12 of boss 1. divergeirdman s cpe radially wardly ,offthe whee11rmm..:, "*x: :rhes nnes. which is inciudedjbetween side. [2 .and f m ner Dendicular to theradixs.'nassingthrcughanexftl,

shorter arig'htangle. J15 a is preferred and has. 8 1. a; Q to'ry. Boss liisro nded ssh in Fig. and'hastheianex.

d nfcoy r-n U8 y ard y'iandfbeadin which. to iormi h sedgei L willint n ase'withfbcsses a y 1 To o ieiwr mate ims-t e .whr tith cover plate is jplacedwi'ththe ii 16' seated 1;

, fil'f-i f ll ifi term "but a soon asth'e'bead passes over apex ""H the inherent resilience of the bead will cause it to slide down the inclined surfaces or seats l2 as bead It tends to assume its normal round or circular shape, thus interengaging the beaded edge is of the plate 15 with all three bosses 1. Angular seats l2 in a sense form pockets into which the beaded edge of the cover plate drops.

The diameter of the circle passing through apices II will be substantially greater than the diameter of the circle passing through points l3. In practice this difierence has been about a quarter of an inch. The diameter of the circle passing through points l3 will be slightly greater than the diameter of the beaded edge l6. Since the edges [2 are inclined radially inwardly, when the cover plate is snapped over the bosses 1, bead 16, which is thereby distorted out of true round, will, in again tending to assume its true round shape, slide down the inclined surfaces 12 until it strikes the wheel body. Bead 16 will remain distorted out of round a slight amount when the cover is fully in placewhich insures bead it being in tension 'andthereby holding the cover tightly on the wheel. Thus, due to the inclination of edges l2, the beaded edge of the cover plate is always in tension and thus maintains a tight rattle-proof fit between the cover plate and the wheel body.

The cover plate I is removed by prying the beaded edge radially and axially outward over the apex ll of any one of the bosses I whereupon the cap can be radially removed from the wheel body.

I claim: 1 1. In a vehicle wheel body, a plurality of circumferentially spaced bosses adapted for detachably connecting a cover plate to the wheel body, said wheel body having a V shear for each boss, the metal radially inwardly of said V shear being formed axially outwardly of said shear in the form of a V boss with edge surfaces in the form of a V, the edge surfaces of each boss diverging from the apex toward the wheel body and inclining radially and axially inwardly from the apex toward the body proper and the apex of the boss being positioned radially a greater distance from the center of the wheel body than the points at which the edge surfaces meet with the body proper of the wheel.

2. The wheel body claimed in claim 1 wherein each boss has its greatest width at the circumference passing through the points of confluence of the edge surfaces of the V with the body proper, the junction of the boss and body proper being likewise in the form of a V with the apex opposed to the apex of the free edge of the boss.

3. In a vehicle wheel comprising a rim and a body portion, at least three circumferentially spaced bosses on said wheel body, each boss comprising a sheared portion having its free edge extending axially outwardly from the body of the wheel 'at an angle inclined towards the vertical plane of the wheel and in the form of a V with the 'sidesof the free edge diverging radially inwardly and toward the wheel body, the apex of said V shaped free edge being positioned radially a greater distance from the center of the wheel than the sides of the V edge whereby when a cover plate is snapped over the plurality of bosses the edge of the cover plate interengages between and with the inclined V faces of each boss and the adjacent face portions of the wheel body.

4. The vehicle wheel claimed in claim 3 wherein each boss is in the form of a portion of a bubble having its center substantially in the plane of the adjacent body portion.

5. A vehicle wheel comprising a pressed metal body with a plurality of bosses sheared from said wheel body with the free edges of each boss in the form of a V, the free edges of each boss diverging and extending radially. inwardly from the apex of theV toward and joining the body proper of said wheel at an angle inclined towards the vertical plane of the wheel, the said bosses being circumferentially spaced about said wheel body and positioned substantially equidistant from the center of the wheel body, and. a flexible cover plate having an inwardly formed circumferential edge snapped over the bosses and resiliently interengage between and with the V edges of each of said bosses and the adjacent face portions of the wheel body, the diameter of the circle passing through the apices of said V bosses being greater than the diameter of the circle passing through the points of junction of the free edges of the bosses with the wheel body, the diameter of the circumferential edge of said cover plate being less than the diameter of the circle passing through the points of junction of the free edges of the bosses with the Wheel body whereby when the cover plate is mounted over said bosses the free edges of the bosses upon which the edge of the cover plate seats cooperate to distort the edge of the cover plate out of round and thereby hold the edge of the cover plate in tension on said bosses. v, I

6. The vehicle wheel claimed in claim 5 wherein the diameter of the circle passing through the apices of said bosses is greater than the inner diameter of the circumferential edge of said cover plate.

7. The vehicle wheel claimed in claim 5 wherein the circumferential edge of the cover plate i in the form of a bead, the portion of said cover adjacent said bead being spaced from said V edges of said bosses.

HARRY J. HORN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

. UNITED STATES PATENTS 

